Polished Granite Pendant

The other day I went hiking near my house. I found this small flat piece of granite and hoped I could make it into something pretty for a friend of mind. Having zero experience working with stone, I’m glad it turned out the way it did. The metal comes from two American nickels.

To make it I first used tile nips to rough cut a circle. I then double stick taped the stone to a the head of a bolt. I spun the bolt in my drill press and polished it round using only common sand paper (starting at 100 grit then, 400, 1000, and finally 2000). I then burnished it with white candle wax to make it shiny.

For the bezel, I hammered a nickel just enough so the detail of the coin disappeared. I then made a bottle cap shape by hammering it while it was clamped over a socket (full instructions for this method are under “Vintage Locket”. I soldered it to a nail and polished it in my drill press.

For the jump ring I hammered a strip of nickel and formed it around a drill bit to make it circular. I then filed a round notch in it and soldered it to the bezel.

The stone is pressed in, no glue, or bezel setting. That was unintentional though. I tried to dry fit it and then could absolutely not get it back out.

Hope she likes it.